Senate bill may open COSI, Nationwide Arena to guns

Tuesday

May 13, 2014 at 12:01 AMMay 13, 2014 at 10:26 AM

Questions already are being raised about the reach of a gun bill introduced in the state Senate yesterday that would prevent a person or entity leasing certain government property from blocking access to people carrying guns.

Jim Siegel, The Columbus Dispatch

Questions already are being raised about the reach of a gun bill introduced in the state Senate yesterday that would prevent a person or entity leasing certain government property from blocking access to people carrying guns.

Supporters say the leasing provision is meant to close a loophole in state law that has allowed some municipalities to lease park land, for example, for $1 to a private entity so that signs could be posted banning concealed handguns from the premises.

However, it remains unclear how the bill might affect the ability to ban the carrying of guns in certain facilities where there are public lease agreements involving the building or land. Examples are Nationwide Arena and COSI, which ban guns.

"That question did come up, and we're having it researched right now," Uecker said. "We believe it would" be affected.

Under state law, cities cannot ban guns except for places spelled out in the law, such as schools, police stations and administrative buildings. But a private landowner or an entity leasing government-owned land can prohibit the carrying of guns on the premises. The bill would eliminate the provision dealing with those leasing public land.

Nationwide Arena, which was sold to the Franklin County Convention Facilities Authority in 2012, serves alcohol, so it might still be allowed to post no-gun signs, but that's not clear.

"A lot will depend on each space's individual current usage and what other laws may prohibit it," Uecker said. He is waiting on research from the nonpartisan Legislative Service Commission for more-definitive answers.

"If it's owned by the government and we have cases where it is permitted to concealed-carry, then it should be allowed," he said.

Columbus City Attorney Richard C. Pfeiffer Jr. wondered whether the bill also would affect groups that temporarily lease a park for specific events, such as ComFest or Festival Latino.

"I wonder if they thought that through," he said of the bill's supporters.

Ken Hanson, a lawyer and legislative chairman of the Buckeye Firearms Association, said the goal is to make sure the underlying owner of the property is the one subject to the concealed-carry law, not the entity that leases it. If the bill did apply to places such as COSI, he said, "Why shouldn't people be allowed to carry guns at COSI?"

The new measure was endorsed by the firearms group shortly after it was introduced.

"This is good, common-sense legislation," said Jim Irvine, president of the association, in a release. "It solves real problems for both citizens and law enforcement while maintaining appropriate safeguards to ensure the continued success of concealed carry in Ohio."

The chairman of the Senate Civil Justice Committee, Bill Coley, R-West Chester, does not plan to take action before the summer break on a wide-ranging House-passed gun bill that includes a controversial "stand your ground" provision, but he said the new Senate bill could get a vote in the next few weeks.

"It's important to a lot of people that we clarify some areas of the law," Coley said.

The bill would:

• Reduce from 12 hours to 8 the training time required to obtain a concealed-carry permit. Live-fire training still would be required, but the two-hour minimum no longer would be specified.

Law-enforcement groups have opposed the reduction.

Supporters have argued the necessary training can be done in less time and would not have to span two days.

• Permit the issuing of a concealed-handgun license to out-of-state residents if they are employed in Ohio, and allow for a temporary emergency license for temporary residents of the state.

• Allow attorney general investigators to be armed when probing nursing homes or other residential-care facilities. A spokeswoman said fraud investigators have been carrying guns for years, and the office wants that put into law.